The Washoe County Senior Advisory Board is made up of eleven community members who are appointed by the County Commissioners to give advice to Washoe Senior Services and to the County Commission about programs and services provided to Washoe residents age of 60 and above. The group spent months interviewing organizations, providers and staff about ways the county can better serve the senior community and has just approved a Senior Services Master Plan containing its recommendations to the county. This plan will serve as a guideline for the board’s actions and advocacy for the coming years. Here is a summary of their plan objectives and strategies: 

• Expand volunteer participation in senior services through improved recruitment and diversifying opportunities to become involved. This action includes hosting quarterly volunteer fairs and improved outreach to the community about ways you can help our seniors. If you are interested in volunteering with county senior programs, please contact them at sr_info@washhoecounty.gov or 775 328 2575. 

• Expand seniors’ access to food and nutrition programs through improved outreach and transportation to food resource providers, continuing evaluation and improvement of county senior meals programs, offering nutrition and cooking classes and gardening opportunities, teaching seniors how to access grocery delivery programs, and working to provide more information and better access to food distribution sites. 

• Increase social interaction among seniors by joining community partners to combat the detrimental effects of isolation by offering an array of active living, social engagement and community activities, including maintaining a county staff activities planner, piloting a Neighbor-to-Neighbor program, reinstating the Friendly Visitor Calling program, and advocating for ways to improve adult day care services in the region. 

• Advocate for increasing affordable and accessible housing units for seniors by at least 300 per year, advocate for rent stabilization programs between landlords and tenants, track affordable housing availability, and support zoning to allow shared housing models and ADUs (accessory dwelling units) in areas with accessible senior transportation options. 

• Increase education for caregivers about respite care, paid time off and tax credits, conduct workshops for elders about support services that allow them to age in place in their homes, host fraud and scam prevention, elder abuse prevention and, end-of-life issues learning opportunities. 

• Advocate for expanded accessible, affordable, free and subsidized senior transportation and improve seniors’ awareness of those services, including inviting various transportation providers to do monthly sign-up events at senior centers. 

• Collaborate with advocates to expand legal services of seniors and continue to support funding a nonprofit senior law center, including hosting an annual legal services roundtable of providers with a report to the County Commission. 

• Increase participation in county senior services by using improved communication resources to reach seniors, including PSAs on radio and television, refreshing the county senior services website often, supplying resource and service information at all county senior meal sites and more sharing of activities information with community partners. 

The Senior Advisory Board meets monthly on the second Wednesday of each month at 3pm in the Commission Chambers at the Washoe County complex at 1001 E. 9th Street, Reno (Bldg. A), or at the 9th Street Senior Center at 1155 E. 9th Street, Reno. (Bldg. E). Interested members of the public are always welcome and can find the board’s agendas and minutes online at https://www.washoecounty.gov/seniorsrv/senior_services_advisory_board/index.php. For more information, please contact me at donnanorm1@yahool.com or 775-240-2745.